Syllabus Project

Fall 2017 Cross Cultural Studies, CRCL 5031, ANTH 5931

Theories of Cultural Diversity: Cultural Heritage and Property

Professor: Yasmine Silva

Day: Wednesdays, 7-10P

Class: Bayou Building, Room 1219

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday from 4-6:30P (additional times available by appointment)

Office Location: Bayou Building, Room 2617

Office Phone: 555-555-5555

Email: Please email through Blackboard

Course Description: “Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage”

This course is designed to understand the theory of cultural diversity in the United States through the idea of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is seen as both the physical and non-physical signs of the human past that exist in present times. It involves the visible and invisible, the old and the new, the natural and the man-made. Cultural heritage is a filed that allows us to look at the “behind the scenes” of American culture and the diversity that is present in our society, both past and present. In defining cultural heritage, we take a look in understanding cultural diplomacy in the U.S. and the contemporary dilemmas surrounding anthropology when it comes down to the policies created to protect one’s heritage and having museums, heritage sites, festivals, and theme parks protect it in the form of “cultural property”.

Each week, we will explore the issues such as current threats to heritage, the public’s opinion and view of the protection of cultural heritage, tourism, identity, laws and policies, and ethics. We will look at the factors that have impacted cultural heritage through the years such as federal organizations, nationalism, colonialism, and war. We will compare and contrast past and modern threats to cultural heritage and engage in a seminar-style discussion where students will come to class ready to provide their understanding of the assigned readings and their opinions. Students will have the opportunity to explore the City of Houston and surrounding areas and conduct their own case study as we progress through the course.

Course Objectives: There are no prerequisites for this course as it is designed to accommodate to students coming in from various disciplines. The readings will draw from anthropology, history, geography, literature, museum studies, law, and cultural discipline. Students are expected to come prepared to class having read the assigned reading materials for that week and contribute to the discussion. Success in this course involves using both the tools and concepts of a researcher.

Readings and Requirements: The class format is structured around weekly participation (both in person and Blackboard), in-class discussion, lectures, written assignments, presentation, and a research project.

Required Readings:

· Negotiating culture : heritage, ownership, and intellectual property / edited by Laetitia La Follette.

· Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (2009)

· PDF readings posted in the content folders for their corresponding week

The Syllabus: The course syllabus is designed to be a guide on how the class is structured according to the university’s guidelines. It contains information that is beneficial for you as required from the school. Through the semester, I may modify the syllabus to benefit the class and the pace of the course. Changes to the syllabus will be announce in class or through Blackboard; please check your university email and Blackboard regularly prior to coming to class in order to be up to date. You, as a student in this course, are responsible for being aware of any changes made to the syllabus.

Assignments:

(1) Class Participation and Regular Attendance. You are allowed 3 absences, although you may lose points. If you miss more than 3 face-to-face classes, I will assume that you are no longer enrolled in the class and I will assign whatever grade you have at that time based on accumulated points on the 1000-point scale. In case of emergency, please notify me. Each week, you are required to post a 500-word summary on the discussion board before attending class over the readings. If you are absent, you may post one discussion post to make up for the missed class. 10% (100 points)

(2) In Class PPT Presentation: You will prepare a class presentation over one of the readings in a certain week. You will upload it to Blackboard a day before class so that other students have the chance to view it. Presentations are to be done individually. You should include (a) information regarding the author, (b) relevant maps and graphs that pertain to the reading, (c) up to five minutes of video, (d) you must look up at leas one source regarding the reading and provide information over it, ( e) discuss the relevance to the week’s readings and tie it to key points in current or past readings. You must also find (f) a comparison point to international events (can be news articles, books, etc) and provide a solution to the problem or a way that things can be changes. You will need to include all these elements in your presentation and provide adequate citation and references as you would for any formal paper. You may select the week and reading that you wish to present on. 10% (100 points)

(3) Weekly Thought Piece: Ypu will be responsible for completing three thought pieces over the course of the semester You will pick which weeks you wish to upload it; they must be turned in prior to coming to class. You must focus on at least 2 of the weekly readings and compare and contrast the work. Please go beyond “linking” the reading. Your thought piece should be 4-5 pages responding to the question being asked that week. Your papers should reflect an understanding of what is being asked and how the different readings focus on said subject. You should provided quotes to strengthen your paper as well a proper sources and citation just like you would for any formal paper. It is inappropriate to include exclusively personal stories, as the purpose of this exercise is a mini essay test, providing evidence that you have both read the material and thought it through analytically. Go beyond “liking” or “disliking” reading material, and instead try to understand the goals of each author, and the importance of the selected materials for a given week when related to each other. When put together or read at the same time, what do the readings tell us or lead us to conclude? Look for the alchemy between the different readings, and how they spark new ideas when grouped together as they are on the syllabus. Please refrain from recycling material from your other courses, and focus only on our course materials. Times New Roman, 12-point font, standard margins. 30% (100 points each, together 300 points)

(4) Weekly Summaries: Each week, you will post a 500-word summary over one or more of the readings before coming to class, In the weeks that you decide to post a thought piece, you may post the thought piece of a portion of it to the discussion board to count as part of your weekly summaries. 10% (100 points)

(5) Research Project: As part of your final project, you will conduct a research project regarding one of the topics discussed in class. You can decide to visit a festival, a museum, or an archeological site and see the event through the topic of cultural heritage, cultural property, and cultural policies. This project your summarize your understanding of the course and apply it to a real-world problem or situation. A list of events or options will be available through the semester in Blackboard. You are more than welcome to find another topic to discuss as long as it falls under the topic. A 6 page paper will be required to be turned in the last week of the course. You will provided a mini presentation to share with the class your topic and your views on it. More instructions will be available the second week of class. 40% (400 points)

Course Format: This course will be run on an active learning seminar-lecture model. This means that I will lecture when introducing new texts and concepts, and will also expect your regular participation. Student presentations will be ongoing throughout the semester. We will be communicating through Blackboard regularly. Please check Blackboard frequently as all class emails will be sent there. I will assume that you are reading those emails and that you are aware of any updates or changes to the syllabus. You will be asked to upload your assignments through Blackboard under “assignments”. If you do not have Internet access at home, make arrangements to access Blackboard elsewhere for checking class emails and sending in your assignments in a timely manner. Work submitted late through Blackboard is not accepted.

Classroom breaks and classroom etiquette: During each class we will have a 10-minute break. Class will resume promptly after the break ends.

Grading/Evaluation: The following grading and evaluation outline is designed to be transparent and straightforward enough so that you may know your grade at any point in the semester. Please upload your assignments in the correct place to assure that your work gets graded. Regular class participation and attendance, as well as consistency at turning in assignments on time is by far the most important factor in earning a good grade in this course.

Point distribution is based on a 1000-point scale.

Graduate students who get a grade of C or less will not receive credit for this course as per UHCL policy, and will have to retake the course at a later date.

930-1000 = A, 929-900 = A-, 899-860 = B+, 859- 840 = B, 839-799 = B-, 798-760 = C+

759-740 = C, 739-699 = C-, 698-600 = D, 599- less = F

CLASS POLICIES:

Academic honesty policy: PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY:

Students should only submit their own work when completing any assignments. It is increasingly easy to detect cases when students copy from work that is not their own. In cases where students fail to properly cite sources, a grade of 0 will be given to that assignment, and the incident will be documented through the university and the Dean of Student’s Office.

The following sanctions will also apply:

-When plagiarism occurs, a 0 will be given for that work, period.

-The student will not be able to do any other bonus point activities later in the semester to recoup their lost points.

-If the student did bonus point activities prior to plagiarizing , those points will also be deducted.

-Students who plagiarize will not make an A in this class, the highest a student might earn is a B.

-Students who plagiarize will not receive letters of recommendation from me at any time in the future after the incident occurs.

-If you are having family or health issues, don’t plagiarize to get work done quickly, you will receive a 0 regardless of the circumstances.

Please refer to the UHCL catalog and the Student Life Handbook for the University Academic Honesty Policy. For more on the UHCL policies and expectations, go to http://www.uhcl.edu/studentservices .

Field trips: All students must sign and submit a University of Houston-Clear Lake Release and Indemnification Agreement for Adult Students forms if attending any off-campus events or sites (available at the end of the syllabus). You will need to do this for your ethnographic project.

Special accommodations for students: Students who require special accommodation due to disability of any kind should meet and speak with me so that proper arrangements can be made to address your specific needs. In accordance with university policy, students must provide the instructor with written documentation so that appropriate accommodations can be made. To obtain written documentation of your disability and suggested measures for accommodation, consult with the Coordinator of Health Disabilities Services, SSB 1.301, 281-283-2627. This must be done early in the semester before the first major assignment is due.

The UHCL Writing Center: As a graduate student, you should become accustomed to sharing your written work with others, and taking constructive criticism from your professors so that you can improve your writing skills. You are very strongly encouraged to get acquainted with the writing center on campus while preparing your written assignments. Getting feedback can only make your work better. The peer tutors in the center can help you with every stage of writing, and nearly every kind of writing assignment. Students who write their papers ahead of time and have them looked at by peer tutors normally turn in a more polished piece of work, and on the average receive at least a letter grade higher than those who procrastinate. The Writing Center is available to all university students and is located in the Student Services Building, room 2105. You can call if you have questions or to make an appointment at 281-283-2910. They have extended hours in the fall, offer online tutoring via chat, and you can also email them your work. This is a service you pay for through your student fees, so take advantage of it!

Internet References: Please use academic sources for your papers that come either from academic books, book chapters, or scholarly journals. Our library has a very nice selection of online databases and has round the clock reference librarians available to help you.

Protecting Confidentiality of Student Work: In accordance with FERPA certain measures will be taken to protect the confidentiality of student work. Graded assignments will only be returned in class in person. Graded assignments cannot be left for students outside my office, or with the suite secretary.

Turning in assignments: Please upload your assignments through Blackboard in the assignments area in the contents folder. Do not email me your written work, and do not post it to the discussion board. Late work may be submitted up to one week after the deadline with a letter grade deduction. Work submitted after Tuesday evenings will have a 20-point deduction per day. Work more than a week late will not be accepted.

Incompletes and extra credit assignments : A grade of “I” is given only in cases of documented emergency or special circumstances late in the semester, provided that a student has been making satisfactory progress. An Incomplete Grade Contract must be completed and signed by the instructor and the student. Incompletes will not be given to students who want to earn a better grade because it is unfair to the other students. The same applies to students who ask to do extra credit work to raise their grade beyond what has been offered to all students. Before an “I” is given, the student must meet with the professor and map out a written plan of action with dates estimated for completing coursework. If “I’s” are not made up by the last class day of the next semester, the university automatically converts the grade to an “F”, at which point I am no longer able to intervene on your behalf. In order to take an incomplete, a student must have completed at least 70% of the course work by the end of the semester, and the work must have been submitted on time. Students who attempt to turn in late work at the end of the semester will not receive credit for their work. If you are having a difficult semester, it may be in your best interest to drop the class and take it again when things settle down. Please feel free to discuss this with me if you need to.

Administrative withdrawal: Students may not withdraw from the course after the deadline for doing so set forth in the university calendar. Students cannot drop after the last drop date and the instructor is not permitted to petition on behalf of the student for such a request. In extreme cases, students may undertake an Administrative Withdrawal with valid documentation according to university guidelines. In such cases, students are withdrawn from their entire course load, and not individual courses. Please note this this action is decided by others in enrollment services and the administration in HSH. I am not able to help you process a withdrawal, it must be initiated by a student on their own.

Week 1

Introduction and distribution of the syllabus

· For this week, we will focus on introductions, the syllabus, and what is expected of the course. The class will go over the syllabus and ask any questions pertaining to the class and the assignments.

Week 2

What is cultural heritage? Who protects it? From what? For whom?

· Appiah, K.A. “Whose Culture Is It?” New York Review of Books (Feb. 9, 2006).

· Arnold, B. “The Contested Past.” Anthropology Today 15 (1999): 1-4.

· Cultural heritage: a basic human need - Sada Mire at TEDxEuston (20:00)

· For week 2, students will read three readings to help them understand what cultural heritage is and why it is important. Appiah’s article focuses on defining what culture is and whose culture it belongs to when it comes down to understanding cultural heritage and cultural property. Arnold’s article focuses on the past and allows us to view the beginning of the issue at hand. Mire’s TED Talk informs us of the importance of culture and why it is important that we protect it.

Week 3

negotiating ownership claims: changing attitudes towards cultural property

· Harvey, D.C. “Heritage Pasts and Heritage Presents: Temporality, meaning and the scope of heritage studies.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 7 (2001): 319-338.

· Nora, P. “Between Memory and History,” in Representations 26 (1989): 7-24.

· Introduction of Negotiating Culture (2013)

· Week 3 focuses on the topic of ownership. We look at understanding who “owns” culture and the conflicts that arise because of it. Harvey’s article focuses on understanding the past and present situations regarding culture and the studies behind it.

Week 4

Uses and Abuses of the Past

· Silberman, N.A. “Promised Lands and Chosen Peoples: The Politics and Poetics of Archaeological Narrative,” in Nationalism, Politics and the Practice of Archaeology.

· Chapter 6 of Part 2 of Negotiating Culture: Re-owning the Past DNA and the Politics of Belonging (2013)

· Barghoorn, F. “Stalinism and the Russian Cultural Heritage Source,” The Review of Politics 14 (1952): 178-203.

· Hamilakis, Y. “Stories from Exile: Fragments from the Cultural Biography of the Parthenon (or 'Elgin') Marbles,” World Archaeology 31 (1999): 303-320.

PREPARE FOR CLASS: Find an article or newsletter of your choice. picks can revolve around national and international issues.

Week 5

The Rules and the Manuals: Cultural Heritage Law and Human Rights

· UNESCO World Heritage convention: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/convention-en.pdf

· Silverman and Ruggles, in Cultural Heritage and Human Rights, “Cultural Heritage and Human Rights,” p. 3-22

· 1954 Hague Convention and protocols: http://www.icomos.org/hague/hague.convention.html

· Read Afterword Ownership and the Boundary from “Negotiating Culture”

Week 6 and 7

Worst-Case Scenario: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Losing the Cradle of Civilization

· Prott, L.V. “Protecting Cultural Heritage in Conflict,” in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and the Antiquities Trade. p. 25-35.

· Bauer, Alex. 2015. Editorial: The Destruction of Heritage in Syria and Iraq and its Implications. International Journal of Cultural Property 22:1-6.

· Davis, Tess. 2015. From Babylon to Baghdad: Cultural Heritage and Constitutional Law in the Republic of Iraq. International Journal of Cultural Property 21:445-463.

· Bahrani, Z. “Babylon: A Case Study in the Military Occupation of an Archaeological Site,” Of the Past, For the Future, p. 240-246.

· Eakin, H. “The Devastation of Iraq’s Past,” New York Review of Books, 14 Aug. 2008.

· Cultural Heritage and National Identity in Afghanistan Author(s): Nancy Hatch Dupree Source: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 5, Reconstructing War-Torn Societies: Afghanistan (Oct., 2002), pp. 977-989

· Readings for week 6 and 7 focus on cultural heritage in the Middle East. With the current events occuring in Iraq, cultural heritage is becoming a major focus for those trying to conserve religious sites that are falling victims to destruction. Each article touches on the destruction as well as a look back to past wars that used cultural sites as military occupational houses or security.

PREPARE FOR CLASS: Find a recent news item that addresses some aspect of the cultural heritage of Iraq or Afghanistan. You can look at news outlets from the area

Week 8

Archaeology, Conservation, and Cultural Heritage

· de la Torre, M. and M. MacLean, “The Archaeological Heritage in the Mediterranean Region,” in The Conservation of Archaeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region (Proceedings of Getty Conservation Institute Conference), p. 5-14.

· Schmidt, H. “Reconstruction of Ancient Buildings,” in The Conservation of Archaeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region (Proceedings of Getty Conservation Institute Conference), p. 41-50.

· Özdoğan, M. “Ideology and Archaeology in Turkey,” in Archaeology under Fire, p. 111-123.

Week 9

Tourism and Presenting Cultural Heritage to the Public

· Chapter 7 of Negotiating Culture”; Digital Commons: The Rise of New Models of Collaborative Ownership

· Jameson, J.H. “Presenting Archaeology to the Public, Then and Now: An Introduction,” in The Heritage Reader, p. 428-456.

· Moscardo, G. “Mindful Visitors: Heritage and Tourism.” in Managing Heritage and Cultural Tourism Resources. Critical Essays, Vol. I. p. 281-302. (original publication Annals of Tourism Research 23 (1996): 376-97).

Week 10

Economics, Sustainability, and Living with Cultural Heritage

· Barthel-Bouchier, Diane L. Cultural Heritage and the Challenge of Sustainability. Left Coast Press, Inc, Walnut Creek, CA, 2013;2016;2012;.

· Rojas, E. “Heritage Conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Recent Bank Experience,” Inter American Development Bank (1998).

· “Museum Offers Gray Gaza a View of Its Dazzling Past,” New York Times (25 July 2008). ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/world/middleeast/25gaza.html?scp=1&sq=palestinian+archaeology+museum&st=nyt )

*NOTE: FINAL PROJECT TOPICS MUST BE APPROVED BY NOVEMBER 6.

Week 11

Cultural Heritage of a Great Big World

Post-colonialism and cultural heritage of the global south, the east, the north.

· Overview text at http://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy/ and the “Report of the Expert Meeting on the ‘Global Strategy’ and thematic studies for a representative World Heritage List.” under Conferences and Studies ( http://whc.unesco.org/archive/global94.htm#debut ).

· Shepherd, N. “Disciplining archaeology; the invention of South African prehistory, 1923-1953,” Kronos (2002): 127-45.

· Shepherd, N. “Archaeology Dreaming; postapartheid urban imaginaries and the bones of the Prestwich Street dead,” Journal of Social Archaeology 7 (2007): 3-28.

· Thebe, P.C. “Intangible Heritage Management: Does World Heritage Listing Help?” in Of the Past, For the Future, p. 312-321.

· Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. “Intangible Heritage as Metacultural Production,” Museum International 56 (2004): 52-64.

Week 12

Cultural Heritage and Climate Change

· Colette, A., et al. Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage. Introductory material and sections 4 and 5.

· Mitchell, P. “Practicing archaeology at a time of climatic catastrophe,” Antiquity 82 (1093-1103).

· Cassar, M. and R. Pender. “The impact of climate change on cultural heritage: evidence and response,” 14th Triennial Meeting, The Hague, 12-16 September 2005, p. 610-616.

· Berenfeld, M. “Climate Change and Cultural Heritage: Local Evidence, Global Responses,” George Wright Forum 25 (2008): 66-82.

Week 13

Student Presentations

Nov. 26: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

Week 14

Student Presentations and Conclusions

Student Presentations, if necessary. Otherwise, reading TBD by instructor.

· Read first part of The Monument Men

· Read Chapter 4 of Negotiating Culture

Week 15

Student Reflection and Potluck

Student will reflect on the course and discuss what is next in the terms of cultural heritage..